The abovementioned July 2025 escalation of violence in Sweida governorate reportedly led to the displacement of thousands of civilians inside the governorate1300 and to other governorates,1301 including Dar’a and Rural Damascus,1302 particularly of Bedouin people.1303 In late March 2026, the UNCOI reported that approximately 155 000 of overall around 200 0000 people displaced by the escalation, primarily from burned Druze villages, were still unable to return. Furthermore, the UNCOI noted that almost the entire Bedouin population remained forcibly displaced, many still residing in inadequate shelters.1304
IOM’s population movements assessments in Syria, which started as of February 2025, show that there was an increase in Sweida’s IDP population between February 2025 (around 26 000 out of a total population of approximately 439 000, 6 %)1305 and April 2026 (around 101 000 out of a total population of approximately 480 000, 21 %).1306
UNHCR further estimated that, as of 21 May 2026, around 15 000 individuals had returned to locations in Sweida governorate from internal displacement since December 20241307 and around 4 000 had returned to the governorate from abroad within the same period.1308
- 1300
EUAA, Syria – Major human rights, security, and socio-economic developments [Q33-2025], 1 October 2025, url, p. 12
- 1301
UN Human Rights Council, International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law violations committed during the July 2025 violence in Suwayda, Syria; Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/61/CRP.7, 27 March 2026, url, para. 43; Lister, C., Syria Weekly: March 17-24, 2026, Syria Weekly, 24 March 2026, url
- 1302
Mine Action AoR, Syria, 2025 – A Year in Review, Situation Update No.6, 8 December 2025, url, p. 2; EUAA, Syria – Major human rights, security, and socio-economic developments [Q33-2025], 1 October 2025, url, p. 12
- 1303
Netherlands, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Country of Origin Information Report on Syria, 30 January 2026, url, p. 35
- 1304
OHCHR, UN Syria Commission releases report on July massacres and other grave violations committed in Suwayda and calls for expanded accountability measures, 27 March 2026, url
- 1305
IOM, Syrian Arab Republic – Community Baseline Assessment – Round 1 – February 2025, 6 March 2025, url, p. 8
- 1306
IOM, Syrian Arab Republic – Population Mobility and Baseline Assessment – Round 15 – April 2026, 18 May 2026, url, p. 7
- 1307
UNHCR, Syrian Arab Republic: Comprehensive Overview of IDPs and IDP Returns Dashboard [Map], 21 May 2026, url
- 1308
UNHCR, Syrian Arab Republic: Comprehensive Overview of Refugee Returns Dashboard [Map], 21 May 2026, url